The Sound of ITB Was Familiar

If you want to understand the global travel industry in just a few days, you should go to ITB Berlin.

Walk through the halls early in the morning and you’ll hear dozens of languages before you’ve even reached your first meeting. Coffee cups in one hand, laptops in the other. People greeting partners they haven’t seen since last year. Others meeting for the first time, already discussing collaborations, partnerships, and new ideas. Every stand has its own little story unfolding.

And somewhere between those conversations, something interesting always happens. Ideas move forward. For us at GIATA, this year’s ITB carried an extra layer of meaning. While the industry gathered once again in Berlin to talk about the future of travel technology, we were also celebrating something special ourselves.

30 years of GIATA

Thirty years of working with travel data. Thirty years of partnerships across the industry. Thirty years of helping connect travel around the world.

So when the doors opened on the first morning of ITB Berlin 2026, our stand quickly became what we had hoped for, a place where people could meet, talk, reconnect, and sometimes just ttakke a a breathe for a moment in the middle of a very busy exhibition.

Looking back now, the three days passed incredibly fast. But a few moments really stayed with us.

The Doors Opened and the Stand Never Really Emptied

From the first morning, it became clear that this ITB would be a busy one. Our calendars were already full of scheduled meetings, but what we didn’t expect was how many unscheduled conversations would happen in between.

Partners, customers, and industry friends from all corners of the world stopped by. Some came to talk learnd more about our products, partnerships, or upcoming projects. Others simply came by to say hello after not seeing each other in person since the last ITB. Sometimes a five-minute catch-up would turn into longer discussion about new ideas.

Travel tech might be built on APIs, platforms, and data pipelines, but the industry itself is still very much built on relationships. And over three days, we had a lot of them.

The Travel Tech Café: A Familiar Meeting Point

One part of our stand that has become a tradition over the years is the Travel Tech Café, which we organize together with the ITB team. If you’ve attended ITB’s Travel Tech hall before, you’ve probably seen it. Over time, it has become a familiar meeting point for many people in the industry. A place where conversations continue after meetings, where partners reconnect, and where new introductions happen naturally.

What it actually became was a natural networking space, one of the liveliest corners of the hall. Throughout the day, the café was constantly filled with people catching up, discussing ideas, or simply taking a short break between sessions. At almost any moment, you could hear multiple conversations happening at once, often in different languages.

That’s exactly what the Travel Tech Café has always been about: creating a space where the travel tech community can meet, exchange ideas, and keep the conversations going beyond scheduled meetings.

The Soup Tradition That Everyone Looks Forward To

Another small tradition at our stand that many visitors now expect each year is our daily soup lunch. Around noon, we serve fresh soup as a quick and easy lunch option for people moving between meetings. ITB days are usually packed with back-to-back appointments, so having something warm, simple, and fast has become a welcome pause for many visitors.

Over the years, it has turned into one of those small stand rituals that people remember. This year was no exception, many guests returned during lunchtime, often saying they had been looking forward to it again.

It’s a simple idea, but it always creates a nice moment in the middle of a busy exhibition day. People gather around, grab a bowl, and continue their conversations in a slightly more relaxed way.

The Happy Hour That Turned Into Controlled Chaos

The first evening we hosted a Travel Tech Happy Hour at the stand with our partners Nezasa and AerTicket. We expected a relaxed networking moment. What happened instead was “a full house”. Within minutes, the stand became so crowded that moving from one side to the other required a bit of creativity. Our waiters tried their best to circulate with cocktails and snacks. But at some point the crowd made that mission nearly impossible.

So the event naturally turned into a self-service happy hour. People grabbed drinks themselves, conversations started everywhere, and the entire stand felt more like a spontaneous industry gathering.

To celebrate 30 years of GIATA, we also had anniversary cupcakes. Let’s just say: if you managed to grab one, you were among the lucky few. They disappeared surprisingly fast.

Three Days of Momentum

Often at large events, the first day is the busiest. This year, however, the energy never really slowed down. Day two felt just as busy as day one. Day three continued with the same pace.

Our team moved from meeting to meeting, conversation to conversation, barely finding time to catch a breath. But that’s exactly the kind of problem you want to have at ITB. What stood out most in those conversations was how central precise data has become in travel technology discussions. Which made the next moment particularly fitting.

A Simple Message From the eTravel Stage

On the afternoon of the third day, our CEO Mathis Boldt took the stage at the ITB Berlin Convention’s eTravel Stage. His keynote focused on one of the biggest topics currently shaping the industry: AI in travel technology. But instead of focusing on hype, he talked about the foundation behind it.

Your AI feature is only as good as your data.

It’s a simple statement, but an important one. As companies explore AI-powered tools and services, the real value still depends on something more fundamental: precise, structured, and well-maintained data.That’s exactly the space where GIATA has been working for the past three decades.

What Stayed With Us After ITB

Now that the halls are empty again and everyone has returned home, one thought keeps coming back. ITB is always about travel. But the real story is still the people. The conversations between meetings. The unexpected introductions. The ideas that appear somewhere between a coffee, a quick lunch, and a crowded happy hour.

For us, ITB Berlin 2026 was a celebration of 30 years of GIATA, a week full of inspiring conversations, and a reminder of how strong the travel tech community really is.

To everyone who visited our stand, joined the happy hour, shared a bowl of soup, or simply stopped by to say hello. Thank you for being part of it. Looking forward to continuing the conversations.